What Are Staph Infections?

Staph infections are caused by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which many healthy people carry on their skin and in their noses without getting sick. But when skin is punctured or broken, staph bacteria can enter the wound and cause infections, which can lead to other health problems.

You can help prevent staph infections in your family by encouraging regular hand washing and daily bathing, and by keeping areas that have been cut clean or covered.

How Staph Infections Spread

Staph bacteria can spread through the air, on contaminated surfaces, and from person to person. Kids can carry staph bacteria from one area of their body to another — or pass it to other people — via dirty hands or fingernails. So good hand washing is vital to preventing staph infections.

It's also important to encourage kids to keep their skin clean with a daily bath or shower. If your child has a skin condition such as eczema that makes frequent bathing difficult, ask your doctor for advice.

Keep areas of skin that have been injured — such as cuts, scrapes, and rashes caused by allergic reactions or poison ivy — clean and covered, and follow any directions given by your doctor.

Smallpox is an infection caused by the variola virus. For centuries, epidemics of smallpox affected people all over the globe, and the disease was often serious. But in 1796, an English doctor named Edward Jenner discovered a way to protect people from getting smallpox, which led to the development of the first smallpox vaccine.

The vaccine worked so well that there hasn't been a case of smallpox in the United States since 1949. The United States stopped vaccinating the general population against smallpox in 1972 because the disease was no longer a threat.

The world's last known case of smallpox was reported in Africa in 1977. In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that smallpox was wiped out — the first (and only) time in history that an infectious disease was declared eliminated from the planet.

Worries About Smallpox

Although smallpox infection was wiped out many years ago, samples of the variola virus that causes smallpox were saved in laboratories. Some people have expressed concern that terrorists may try to get access to these stored virus samples with the aim of spreading smallpox infection.

Despite talk about the possibility of terrorists spreading smallpox as a biological weapon, the reality is that this probably wouldn't happen for a couple of reasons. First, terrorists would need access to the virus samples, and the few research laboratories that keep them have security measures to guard them. Also, it would be extremely difficult for a group to take the time to produce a large amount of the variola virus without being detected.

The smallpox vaccine also would prevent the spread of disease because it can:

prevent people from becoming infected if they're vaccinated quickly after exposure to the virus

make the illness less severe in people who do become infected if they're vaccinated within a few days

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the anthrax scare that same year, the U.S. government took the precaution of asking several companies to begin making smallpox vaccine again. Today, there's enough vaccine on hand to protect the American people in the event of a smallpox outbreak.

Public health officials have a rapid response plan ready to vaccinate anyone exposed to the disease, as well as people who come into contact with them. So although a person doesn't need to get vaccinated at the moment, the vaccine is there in case it's needed.

Given that the vaccine can stop the spread of the disease, experts believe it's unlikely that terrorists will go to the trouble of producing and using smallpox as a biological weapon — it would take too long and have little effect.

Smallpox Infections

If someone becomes infected with smallpox, it may take anywhere from 7 to 17 days for symptoms to develop. At first a person may have flu-like symptoms such as high fever, fatigue, headaches, and backaches.

Within 2 to 3 days after symptoms start, a rash develops that typically affects the face, legs, and arms. It starts with red marks that become filled with pus and crust over. Scabs develop and then fall off after about 3 to 4 weeks.

Smallpox is very contagious, particularly during the first week a person has the rash. It is most commonly spread in infected drops of saliva when people cough or sneeze. Someone is contagious until after all the scabs have fallen off.

What Works Against Smallpox?

Antibiotics don't work against viruses — they're only effective against bacteria — so taking them won't help someone with smallpox. Vaccination is the only effective weapon against the spread of smallpox. Immunization successfully wiped out smallpox before and, should it become necessary, can help stop any future outbreaks. Researchers are also working to develop other treatments, too.

It's very unlikely that you or your child will ever be exposed to the virus that causes smallpox. But if you're worried about it, talk to a medical professional, who can help you find the answers to any questions you may have.

Sinuses are moist air spaces within the bones of the face around the nose. When sinuses swell or become irritated, the infection is called sinusitis. These infections usually follow colds or bouts with allergies.

Cases of sinusitis are common and can be easily treated.

Causes

The sinuses are four sets of hollow spaces that are located in the cheekbones, the forehead, behind the nasal passages, and deep in the brain. Sinuses are lined with the same mucous membranes that line the nose and mouth.

When someone has a cold or allergies and the nasal passages become swollen and make more mucus, so do the sinus tissues. The drainage system for the sinuses can get blocked, and mucus can become trapped in the sinuses. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi can grow there and lead to sinusitis.

Symptoms

Sinusitis can cause different symptoms for kids of varying ages.

Younger kids often have cold-like symptoms, including a stuffy or runny nose and slight fever. If your child develops a fever 5-7 days after cold symptoms begin, it could signal sinusitis or another infection (like bronchitis, pneumonia, or an ear infection), so call your doctor.

Many parents mistake cold-related headaches in young kids for sinus infections. But the sinuses in the forehead don't start developing until kids are 6 or 7 years old and aren't formed enough to get infected until the early teen years, so headaches in kids who have colds usually aren't sinus infections.

In older kids and teens, the most frequent symptoms of sinusitis are a daytime dry cough that doesn't improve after the first 7 days of cold symptoms, fever, worsening congestion, dental pain, ear pain, or tenderness in the face. Sometimes teens who have sinusitis also develop upset stomachs, nausea, headaches, and pain behind the eyes.

Prevention

Simple changes in your lifestyle or home environment can help lower the risk of sinusitis. For example, during the winter, when the cold air outside and your heating system make the air inside your home abnormally dry, consider using a humidifier to keep home humidity at 45%-50%. This will stop dry air from irritating the sinuses and make them less of a target for infection. It's important to clean your humidifier regularly to prevent mold growth.

Although sinusitis itself is not contagious, it is often preceded by a cold, which can spread easily, particularly among family or friends. The most effective way to prevent germs from spreading is to teach kids the importance of frequent hand washing, particularly when they're sick.

Treatment

Doctors may prescribe oral antibiotics to treat cases of sinusitis that are believed to be caused by bacteria. Some doctors may recommend decongestants and antihistamines to help reduce the symptoms.

Cases of sinusitis that are caused by viruses usually go away on their own without medical treatment. Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and/or warm compresses may help reduce any pain your child may be experiencing. But over-the-counter cold preparations have not been found to be effective in reducing symptoms in kids and may cause unwanted side effects.

Call the doctor whenever your child has:

a cold that lasts for more than 10 days without improvement

a cold that seems to be getting worse after 7 days of symptoms

symptoms of allergies that don't clear with the usual allergy medication

Also call the doctor if your child shows any other signs of sinusitis, like pain or stiffness in the cheeks, a fever, or a cold that seems worse than usual.

Syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease (STD), can be frightening because if it goes untreated, it can lead to serious health problems and increase a person's risk for getting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.

A syphilis infection can be treated in its early stages with antibiotics, and can be prevented by avoiding sexual contact with someone who is infected. Unfortunately, people don't always know that they are infected, so anyone having sex (oral, anal, or vaginal) should take precautions against STDs and get screened for them regularly.

Symptoms

Syphilis, which is caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, often doesn't cause any symptoms in the early stages. If the infection goes untreated, it can progress to affect the entire body.

Syphilis typically has three stages, and there can be different symptoms in each.

Primary Syphilis

The symptoms of the first stage of the infection, which is called primary syphilis, typically appear 2 to 12 weeks after sexual contact with an infected person. A painless red sore called a chancre can appear on the genitals, at the area where the infection occurred. Enlarged lymph nodes (swollen glands) also might be present in the area. Depending on the type of sexual contact, a chancre might also develop on the mouth or in the rectal area. Chancres are the primary way that syphilis is transmitted between people, but often are unrecognized. Even without treatment, chancres will heal after 3 to 6 weeks, but if the infection isn't treated the disease will progress to the second stage.

The rash of secondary syphilis can develop on the palms and on the soles, in addition to the trunk, arms, and legs. Gray or white wart-like patches of skin called condylomata can appear on the moist areas around the mouth, anus, and vagina. These lesions are full of bacteria and very contagious. In the secondary stage, syphilis may also affect the liver, kidneys, and eyes, or cause meningitis. The symptoms of secondary syphilis will eventually go away. But without treatment, the infection can advance to the third stage. This is true even if an infected person did not have symptoms of primary or secondary syphilis.

Late (Tertiary) Syphilis

After the secondary stage, some people with syphilis progress to the latent stage, where they have no more symptoms but are still infected. Some of them go on to have symptoms of late syphilis, which can appear even years later and can damage the eyes, large blood vessels, heart, bones, and central nervous system (called neurosyphilis). Symptoms of this late stage of syphilis may include memory loss, problems with mental function, walking, balance, bladder control, and vision, in addition to impotence and loss of feeling, particularly in the legs.

Treatment

A doctor can test for syphilis with a physical exam and blood tests and treat it with antibiotics. The doctor can also check for any other STDs, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HIV.

Anyone who is sexually active should see the doctor to be screened for syphilis and other STDs. Someone who has had sexual contact with a person who has syphilis, or has any symptom of the illness, should be seen by a physician for testing and treatment as soon as possible.

Preventing STDs

Because syphilis is an STD, the best way to prevent getting it is to abstain from having sex. Sexual activity with more than one partner or with someone who has more than one sex partner also increases the risk of contracting an STD.

When properly and consistently used, condoms decrease the risk of STDs. Latex condoms provide greater protection than natural-membrane condoms. The female condom, made of polyurethane, is also considered effective against STDs.

Using douche can actually increase a woman's risk of contracting STDs because it can change the natural flora of the vagina and may flush bacteria higher into the genital tract.

Because many STDs often don't have obvious symptoms, often teens don't know when they're infected, so sexually active teens should get screened regularly for STDs so that they don't lead to other more serious health problems.

A teen who is being treated for syphilis also should be tested for other STDs, and should have time alone with the doctor to openly discuss issues like sexual activity. Not all teens will be comfortable talking with parents about these issues. But it's important to encourage them to talk to a trusted adult who can provide the facts.

Getting Help

If your teen is thinking of becoming sexually active or already has started having sex, it's important to talk with him or her about it. Make sure your teen knows how STDs can be spread (during anal, oral, or vaginal sex) and that these infections often don't have symptoms, so a partner might have an STD without knowing it.

It can be difficult to talk about STDs, but just as with any other medical issue, teens need this information to stay safe and healthy. Provide the facts, and let your child know where you stand.

It's also important that all teens have regular full physical exams — which can include screening for STDs. Your teen may want to see a gynecologist or a specialist in adolescent medicine to talk about sexual health issues. Community health organizations and sexual counseling centers in your local area also may be able to offer some guidance.